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LENIN COLLECTED WORKS

speech touches on autocracy, they cry out: "This is of no concern to us, autocracy does not hinder us!" And meanwhile, in the speeches pronounced in the premises of the "Union" by the Zubatovites, all social-democratic demands are set forth, beginning with the 8-hour working day and ending with the convening of popular representatives on the basis of equal, direct, and secret suffrage. Only the Zubatovites claim that the satisfaction of these demands does not signify the overthrow of autocracy, but rather the rapprochement of the people with the tsar, the elimination of the bureaucracy that separates the tsar from the people.

"Social democrats also speak [within] the premises of the Union, and their speeches are received with sympathy, but the initiative for practical proposals emanates from the Zubatovites. Despite the objections of the social democrats, these proposals are adopted. They amount to the following: on Sunday, January 9th, workers are to go to the Winter Palace and present through Father George Gapon a petition to the tsar enumerating all the demands of the workers, ending with the words: 'Give us all this, or we shall die.' At this point the organizers of the meetings add: 'If the tsar does not grant it, then our hands are untied—it means he is our enemy, and then we shall come out against him, unfurling the red banner. If our blood is spilled, it will fall upon his head.' The petition is accepted everywhere. The workers take an oath that all of them will come on Sunday to the square 'with wives and children.' Today the petition will be signed in separate districts, and at 2 o'clock everyone is to assemble at the 'People's Hall' for a final rally.

"All this occurs with the complete connivance of the police—they have withdrawn from everywhere, although mounted gendarmes are hidden in the courtyards of some buildings.

"Today announcements of the city governor are posted on the streets, forbidding assemblies and threatening armed force. The workers tear them down. Troops are being drawn into the city from the surrounding areas. Streetcar employees (conductors and drivers) were forced to go to work by Cossacks with drawn sabers."

20766

BLOODY SUNDAY.

Let us give the floor to foreign correspondents. They alone were able to transmit their reports by telegraph. They prepared for this as true war correspondents. We were precisely war correspondents in the full sense, say some of them, we observed military operations and were ourselves repeatedly subjected to the danger of being shot. As to how accurate the information of foreign newspaper correspondents is, we have already spoken of this above.

"St. Petersburg. January 22 (9). St. Petersburg awakened today to find itself in a state of siege. It turned out to be an extraordinarily fine day. There were five degrees of frost. The air was clear, invigorating; the sky was almost cloudless. The gilded cupolas of churches and cathedrals and the roofs and façades of houses, decorated with snow and illuminated by the bright sun, formed a luxurious panorama when I gazed out from the windows of the hotel, impatiently awaiting what the begun day would bring.

"I noticed a characteristic change in the behavior of passersby. Instead of ascending, as usually, the steps of the Isaac Cathedral, people silently turned toward the Winter Palace, singly or in small groups. Joining the stream of workers, I walked along the Admiralty Garden in the direction of the Winter Palace. One could not help but notice the striking gloomy expression on the faces of passersby. Turning the corner, all eyes were directed toward the Winter Palace, endeavoring to see what was happening there.

"Crowds had already gathered numbering many thousands. Mounted troops would not let them onto the square. The masses of people began to threaten menacingly and press upon the troops. The cavalry set off at a trot, pushing people to right and left. Many curious onlookers, out of caution, began to extricate themselves from the crowd (not without difficulty) and departed for their homes. I myself went to my main headquarters, awaiting reports from my correspondents (reporters), whom I had stationed at all the important points of the city.

"Events followed upon events with such dizzying speed that the public was excited by them beyond all description. Until the very last minute no one believed that anything serious would occur. Traditionally trusting in the power of the nagaika, all shrugged their shoulders and said that the demonstrators would easily be scattered after two or three skirmishes, nothing more.

"Meanwhile, the city, in the course of two hours, found itself in a state of open revolution.

"The first disturbances began at 11 o'clock, when troops attempted to repel several thousands of Putilov strikers on one of the bridges leading to the center of the city. The same thing occurred almost simultaneously on several other bridges, where it was necessary to struggle against a constant stream of workers heading toward the designated meeting place at the Winter Palace. The Cossacks began with the nagaika, proceeded to sabers, and ended with shooting.

"The strikers in the front ranks fell to their knees, beseeching the Cossacks to let them through and assuring them that they had no hostile intentions. But blank shots did not frighten the workers, and an order was given to load the rifles with live ammunition.

"When the people saw, after the shots, the dead and dying everywhere on the bloodstained snow of the pavements, wild cries of vengeance resounded.

"Meanwhile, the situation at the Winter Palace was deteriorating. The troops were unable, according to the reports of their commanders, to restrain the pressing masses of people. It became necessary to send reinforcements, and at two o'clock the order to fire was given here as well. Men, women, and children fell with each volley. They were picked up and taken away to ambulances on sleds and in wagons. It was no longer merely a matter of workers. Indignation and fury seized all classes. Students, merchants, all classes of the population were equally enraged. At the moment I write this, shooting is going on in all parts of the city.

"Father Gapon, who was marching at the head of a large crowd of workers with a cross in his hands, was wounded in the arm and shoulder.

"An automobile that was transporting my telegrams to the telegraph offices (telegrams were sent every hour, sometimes every 5-10 minutes. Editor's note) was seized and used to transport the wounded.

"Two groups of workers are now [separated] cut off from one another. Those on the other side of the Neva are arming themselves with [swords] sabers, knives, [carpentry] woodworking and blacksmith tools. [Energetically] Rapidly barricades are being erected.

"Several officers were attacked on the Nevsky Prospect. Sabers were taken from them, epaulettes were torn off. Panic and confusion everywhere are at their greatest. Troops act mercilessly, shooting to right and left, often without any necessity. The strikers shout to them: 'Are you Russians? Why do you [act] behave like blood-drinkers and villains?' When the dead and wounded are carried or conveyed, the crowd removes its hats and shouts: 'Hurrah! Glory to you!' in honor of the fallen.

"I walked along the Vyborg and Petersburg sides [and the old Petersburg (old part of Petersburg)]. Troops are stationed at various points, particularly concentrated on the bridges across the Neva.

"Dense crowds of workers, among whom there are many women and children, conduct themselves quietly, only whistling at officers riding at the head of troop detachments.

"Returning to the Nevsky, I fell into an enormous crowd, consisting of representatives of all classes of society. Strangers exchanged excitedly news and impressions of the events of the day, [brought together united] joined by common danger. All were agitated and outraged by the horrors perpetrated by the soldiers at the Putilov factory, where there was a real shambles. There the workers, under threat of shooting, lay down on the ground, and troops fired at those lying down!

"At the Narva Gates troops fired [at] on demonstrators led by priests Gapon and Sergei, who were marching with a cross, with an icon, and with a portrait of the tsar. The portrait was riddled by a hail of bullets. [The] Priest Sergei was killed.

"Police and soldiers guarding the bridge across the Neva attempted to disperse the crowd with bayonets, but the pressure did not weaken. A bugle rang out, and two volleys were directed at the crowd. Many killed and wounded. Pleas, curses, cries of vengeance resound against the officers___

... "After sunset the battle subsided. I visited all the main centers of the city and found everything quiet. ... Almost at every corner in the center of the city troops are encamped around fires. Here and there cavalry squadrons. More pedestrians on the streets than could be expected after the terrible events of the day ...

... "Factories are guarded by soldiers in anticipation of disturbances. Troops stand at the Narva Gate, which leads to the Putilov factory. Reinforcements of troops and police were sent there in the morning. A company of soldiers is quartered near the Nevsky Shipbuilding factory.

"Around 10 o'clock in the morning around 15,000 people headed toward St. Petersburg, but around 11 o'clock they were stopped by two hundred Cossacks who blocked their path. The Cossacks fired three times with blank cartridges. Some strikers went across the ice of the Neva, the rest refused to turn back. The commander of the detachment requested reinforcements and ordered the rifles to be loaded with live ammunition. The Cossacks, however, attacked the crowd with the nagaika and drove the demonstrators back.

... "At 11 o'clock in the morning workers began to gather on Vasilievsky Island. Uhlans (there was no police) stood on the Nikolaev Bridge. Infantry detachments stop the workers. Traffic in the streets has ceased. Much military force stands at the Academy of Sciences and [the Arts] of Art. Uhlans, infantry, and Cossacks are gathered also on the Vyborg side. Workers gather on the streets leading to the Liteiny Bridge. They are permitted to pass 2-3 people, but not in crowds. The workers conduct themselves quietly.

... "Near the Narva Gate a cavalry detachment will not let anyone into the city. On Vasilievsky Island one worker addressed the crowd and began calling it to march to Palace Square. Several thousands of workers set off toward the Nikolaev Bridge.

"1 o'clock in the afternoon. The crowd coming from Vas. Island is stopped by a strong detachment of infantry, uhlans, and Cossacks. The leaders of the strikers appeal to the soldiers not to shoot their own brothers. The infantry lowers its rifles, but the uhlans and Cossacks obey the command and drive the crowd back with sabers. Many wounded. A military band plays during the clash.

"All streets leading to the Winter Palace are occupied by troops. . . . 1:20 p.m. An attempt has just been made to rush onto Palace Square. Strikers gathered in great numbers in the Alexander Garden, near the Admiralty, and attempted to break down the [grating leading to] gates to the square. Troops stopped them . . . .

... "Excitement and disorder are increasing everywhere. Demonstrations on V[asilievsky] I[sland] became particularly menacing and tumultuous. Troops are shooting. Crowds of people attempt to break through to the center of the city across the bridges connecting it with the islands and the V[yborg] side. Clashes occur.

"On the Trinity Bridge cavalry attacked a crowd of about 10,000 people with sabers. The strikers turned to flight, pursued by cavalry. The bridge is now closed to traffic. Only selected persons are permitted to pass, and even for them it is not safe to appear in the vicinity, as during the skirmishes nothing and no one is distinguished. The leaders of the movement make speeches before enormous crowds of people and read proclamations calling upon all to go to the Palace and die there. The proclamations are met with applause.

... "When the Putilov workers were barred from the road to the Palace, they assembled near the headquarters of the union, numbering around 10,000. Revolutionary proclamations are thrown from the windows. The leaders deliver inflammatory speeches, protesting against the use of military force, pointing to the tsar's attitude toward the people. The speeches are met with applause and cries: 'Down with the monarchy!'—

"2:38 p.m. Crowd and troops are fighting (open conflict) around